Research

A. Cognition, Gaze and Motor Behaviour

The goal of my research program is to understand how vision controls and modulates motor behaviour. One of the challenges in this area is to determine if visual invariants underlie expertise in sport and other motor activities. Invariants are aspects of one’s gaze and/or motor behaviour that remain relatively unchanged even as the context or other parameters vary. A potential invariant of higher levels of motor performance is a gaze called the “quiet eye”. The quiet eye has four characteristics – it is directed to a critical location or object in the performance space; its onset occurs before the final movement common to all performers of the skill; its duration tends to be longer for elite performers; and it is stable, confirming the need for an optimal focus prior to the final execution of the skill. The processing of quiet eye information and the ability to self-regulate cognitive and emotional activity are key to the successful execution of motor skills, not only in sport but also in everyday skills like locomotion and in disorders such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). When a performer is anxious or upset, then their normal ability to attend is lost with negative effects on their quiet eye and performance.

B. Motor Learning and Control: Decision Training In Sport

The ability to make effective decisions, especially under conditions of stress, is a characteristic sought by all sports performers. Decision training is a second major research area of my laboratory and is designed to improve the athlete’s ability to make effective decisions when under competitive stress. A decision trainer assumes that the necessary perceptual and cognitive skills must be present before motor skills and tactics can be performed in a consistent and reliable way. For this reason, coaches and other professionals are taught how to design decision training practices that help the athlete learn how to better anticipate what is going to happen, to focus and attend to critical cues, and overall become a more effective decision maker in the field of play. The gaze behaviour program plays a major role in decision training, as it provides valuable insights into how elite athlete control their focus and make decisions, information that can be shared with others in the training context.